Policy Officer, Mental Health and Wellbeing Division

***:
The Policy Officer will be a key member in the Mental Health Policy team. This team is responsible for supporting several key recommendations following the Royal Commission into Victoria's Mental Health System. Projects include the strategy toward the elimination of seclusion and restraint and the state's new eating disorders strategy.
Beyond project work, the Mental Health Policy team also provides strategic mental health advice across the Mental Health and Wellbeing Division, the Department of Health, and governments, as required. As well as this, the team performs other important functions, such as supporting intergovernmental relations, strategic interface advice, research, forming policy and providing briefs.
Working as part of the team, the Policy Officer will get the opportunity to collaborate with people with lived and living experience of mental health concerns and their carers, families and supporters, as well as people who work in the mental health and wellbeing system, service providers, academics, researchers and other experts.

**Are you someone who**:

- Is looking for a role that will allow you to help improve mental health outcomes for Victorians?
- Enjoys critical thinking in order to find solutions.
- Has skills in both written and verbal communication?

SELECTION CRITERIA
Knowledge and skills
- Policy skills: aware of, interprets and applies policies; drafts simple policies using research skills and consults with stakeholders; provides feedback on draft policies.
- Problem solving: seeks all relevant information for problem solving; investigates and probes for the facts; liaises with stakeholders; analyses issues from different perspectives and draws sound inferences from information available; identifies and proposes workable solutions to problems.
- Self-management: plans and prioritises work to ensure outcomes are achieved, resists the temptation to react immediately without taking time to think things through, uses strengths to contribute constructively and consciously manages the impact of own weaknesses, anticipates own reactions to situations and prepares accordingly.

Personal qualities
- Conceptual and analytical ability: deals with concepts and complexity comfortably; uses analytical and conceptual skills to reason through problems, has creative ideas and can project how these can link to innovations.
- Integrity: committed to the public interest; operates in a manner that is consistent with the organisation's code of conduct; inspires trust by treating all individuals fairly.
- Teamwork: cooperates and works well with others in pursuit of team goals, collaborates and shares information, shows consideration, concern and respect for others feelings and ideas, accommodates and works well with the different working styles of others, encourages resolution of conflict within the group.

Qualifications and considerations
*
- A tertiary qualification in fields related to policy, public health or mental health and/or a sound understanding of the Victorian mental health system would be desirable.
- The Mental Health and Wellbeing division encourages people with a past or current lived experience either as a consumer or carer of mental illness to apply.

Mandatory Vaccination Policy

**HOW TO APPLY**:
For this position, you are not required to address each of the key selection criteria in a separate written document.
Applicants must be an Australian Citizen, Permanent Resident or hold a valid work permit or visa. Work eligibility will be checked as part of the recruitment process.
For further information please visit the Department of Health